lotus7 questions?

[rn-85]

ok to start this off i saw top gear and the three of them built one in 8 hours, now i'd like to find some one who has built one for them self, and could let me know how easy it realy is i dont believe every thing i see and i dont want the inpression that i'd take me a few weekends in my mind before i start.

ive also heard all sorts of stories on what they are worth once finishied how much more on average? ive looked at second hand ones and compared to new ones but is that a fair judgment? also im not planning to sell once built, but just in case.

and how good is the tech support for the parts for it? cause i'll be ordering the different stages at different time if it takes a little while to build but if it takes ages to get any where it might be better off ordering the whole lot at once.

cheers

[rick q]

The best site in Australia for all that info is http://www.oz-clubbies.com/forums/

FWIW I doubt anyone could genuinely build one in 8 hrs - PRB suggest 100 hours for the Birkin. Biggest difficulty these days is finding an affordable engine that you can register the Clubman with!!

(But They ARE about the most fun you can have sitting down!!)

[Billzilla]

I've got one - A Fraser - and it took a couple of years to put together. It was done only part-time and you could do it a lot faster than that though.
It's got a gen 5 3SGE of about 220hp, 6-speed gearbox, Motec M400 & ADL, Quaife Torsen LSD, deDion rear end, pushrod-rocker front end, and other good bits & peices in it.



Mine's the second one, with the black nose/bonnet.

As Ric mentioned, the bet place to go is the Aus Clubbies site. Lots of good info there.

[Joshstix]

Try and find the TV series A RaceCar is Born. It documents the process of a normal person building a Caterham from kit to road registerred.

[willwal98]

Been a while since I saw that episode but from what I remember it was a little dodgy. They rushed over some parts that were less important etc. If you have all of the pieces laid out and ready to assemble and had all the right tools and people to do the job it wouldn't take that long to do but who has that sort of organising skills

[Joshstix]

If you're talking about a race car is born it was a 10 episode series and was fairly comprehensive. Obviously it wasn't the manual for doing the build but it was a good indication of the kind of time required to do the job in a normal environment.

[Billzilla]

Here's the one where the Top Gear duffers bolt together a Caterham of some sort over a working day.
Pt 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIgcnjQoNww
Pt 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRcc27jTyA4

[spectral]

If you're talking about a race car is born it was a 10 episode series and was fairly comprehensive. Obviously it wasn't the manual for doing the build but it was a good indication of the kind of time required to do the job in a normal environment.

Although a lot more comphrensive than the Top Gear episode, it still skimps over a lot of stuff....

"Now rivet in the floor panels, here is how you do a rivet"... and then cuts away and its all done Try putting in over 400 rivets...

In my opinion, the common kits go as follows:

PRB - Top Quality - High Price - Easy to build (just like a jigsaw, all the bits a pre-fabbed)
Fraser - Top Quality - Medium Price - Medium to build
Westfield - Medium Quality - Low Price - Hard to build (lots of sheet fabrication, trimming, etc.. basically you get a bare chassis and you do the rest)
Locost - DIY Quality - Lowest Price - Hardest build (you weld the chassis)

As you can see, building a Locost is entirely entirely different from the 8 hours of Meccano spanner work that the goofs on TopGear did.


I went for the Westfield because my budget isn't huge and I thought just screwing together a car like the PRB wasn't a challenge enough (its a bit "Piece A bolts to Bracket B to support C").

With the others you "Build a Car", not "Assemble a car"

[RobertoX]

Hey guys, a mate of mine from uni has set up a site doccumenting his budget build, there are a few interesting things he's done, like an FEA on the chassis for a 3rd year subject. I think he frequents these forums occasionally too

http://projectlocost.org/

[BeRad]

what size engine can you legally put in one of these things....?

[spectral]

what size engine can you legally put in one of these things....?

Its an individually constructed vehicle. You can legally put any size engine in.

Biggest I've personally seen is an LS1.

As long as the engine meets current ADRs, then its fine.

The 20V no longer does. Most people are now going for the Ford Duratec / Zetec from the Focus and Mazda 3.

[EldarO]

general cost?

obviously all differ, but a minimum price range? just curious.

Elmo.

[Billzilla]

general cost?

obviously all differ, but a minimum price range? just curious.

Elmo.

You could probbaly get away with around $25,000.
There is no upper limit!

[spectral]

general cost?

obviously all differ, but a minimum price range? just curious.

Elmo.

In my opinion.

Locost : $15000-$25000
Westfield : $25000-$40000
Fraser : $35000-$50000
PRB : $40000-$55000

Thats a pretty basic car, on the road. As Bill said.. goes up from there Some of the top Hayabusa powered vehicles change hands for about $65000 second hand.

[EldarO]

wow, incredible..

id imagine driving one would be out of this world though, not much between you and... well... anything really!

Elmo.